


Red and Green (With Envy)

by Denizen_of_Dreamland



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel), Persona 2, Persona 4, Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Doki Doki Literature Club! Fusion, Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, Angst, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Christmas, Don't Have to Know Canon, F/M, Gen, Inspired by Doki Doki Literature Club!, Jealousy, Maruki Takuto's Reality Ending, Near Future, Older Characters, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers, Possibly Unrequited Love, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28131312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denizen_of_Dreamland/pseuds/Denizen_of_Dreamland
Summary: It’s almost Christmas in Takuto’s ideal reality, so he decides to celebrate the occasion with Rumi and the other members of his beloved literature club.Even if the jealousy kills him.
Relationships: Maruki Takuto/Rumi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Red and Green (With Envy)

**Author's Note:**

> I still don’t know how to write Jun, so he’s probably very OOC, sorry :/
> 
> Adachi and Akechi might seem OOC too, but that’s deliberate because of this AU. You see, I haven’t posted any background for it, but, long story short, this is a DDLC AU, except they’re all adults. No prior knowledge is required, but some of it might not make sense if you aren’t familiar with DDLC.
> 
> There may also be spoilers, so you’ve been warned.

It was the last meeting that the Literature Club would hold before the holidays. The air outside was chilly, the sun shone upon the busy streets of Tokyo, and the whole city, which had been fully decorated for Christmas, seemed to be alight with joy. The crowds shuffled back and forth, coming and going, as the people clocked out for the day, bought last minute presents, and rushed to reunite with their families for the winter break.

The Literature Club members, for their part, were taking refuge inside the public library nearest to Shujin, sitting around a table with their preferred books in hand while they shared a leisurely conversation. The atmosphere was so light-hearted that even Adachi and Akechi were getting along, and, while some might’ve attributed that to the Christmas spirit, Takuto knew better than anyone that this was all a result of his hard work. But, even so, he couldn’t allow himself to become complacent -- if he let his guard down for a single second, this reality and everything he’d built over the last few years could potentially collapse in on itself.

The counselor put on a smile as he turned towards the table and presented the other members with a bowl of seasonal snacks. Gingerbread men, candy canes, glazed cookies, pieces of nougat, and marzipan included, there was enough of everything to feed each of the members three times over. The feast was a way to thank them for being part of the club and helping Takuto’s dreams come to life, but, at the same time, it was a reward for behaving and playing by the rules of this reality.  _ Takuto’s _ reality.

“Merry Christmas!” He said, putting the bowl down on the table. “This is the special surprise I told you I had planned for today.”

“Huh?” Adachi leaned forward in his seat to take a closer look at the snacks. “Woah, Doc, you really outdid yourself.”

“Well, it’s not Christmas Day yet, but I will accept your offering.” Akechi flashed one of his classic detective prince smiles. “This is the first time we spend the holidays together as the literature club, after all.”

“You’re right, it’s our first...!” Jun said, in realization. “It feels like it’s been longer than that… I hope it’s the first of many more to come.”

“I’ll toast to that.” Takuto said, sitting down and grabbing the mug of hot chocolate in front of him. They all had a mug each, courtesy of Adachi, who normally just made coffee, but was stepping out of his comfort zone only for today.

No matter how much Adachi and Akechi denied it, everyone had been looking forward to today’s meeting, knowing that Takuto would go all-out to celebrate Christmas with his beloved club members. Now that the day was here, he hoped he had lived up to the expectations, which he probably had, given all of the time, monet, and effort he had poured into making this meeting feel as warm and homely as possible. He had even decorated the clubroom with garlands, lights, ribbons, and even a small Christmas tree with a star on top. He had gone the extra mile, too, as he had gotten some custom ornaments to better represent the club. Book-shaped ornaments and such.

Though he felt a bit guilty about admitting it, even if only to himself, he was kinda proud of the result. Not to mention that it was good to see that he still had it in him to find joy in the little things.

Which meant that he was still sane.

As he looked around, Takuto caught a glimpse of Adachi out of the corner of his eye. “H-Hold on, Adachi-san! We’re still missing one member!”

Adachi stopped in his tracks, caught red-handed in the middle of reaching out to grab a snack. He slowly took back his arm, staring at Takuto like a deer in the headlights, and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “Ah… right. I forgot, hehe.”

“That’s okay.” Takuto said. “I think she should be here shortly anyway.”

Takuto’s suspicions, or, rather, the words Azathoth whispered inside his head, proved to be true when the door clicked open and Rumi made her entrance, with a Santa hat on her head. She looked a little disheveled, but as beautiful as always, as she made a beeline for the table, taking off her scarf and coat. “Hi, guys! I’m sorry for being late, but I had a student approach me about his test results, so I decided to stay behind to sort that out as soon as possible.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” Takuto said. “Your attitude towards your job is admirable and we would never want to get in the way of that. Besides, we would never get started without you.”

Jun looked at him, eyes widening in disbelief at his perfect timing. “How did you know?”

Takuto chuckled. “Lucky guess?”

With a swift swipe of his hand, Adachi pulled Akechi’s chair from under him, knocking the younger man off, and pointed at it while he gave Rumi a nonchalant smile. “Hey, why don’t you sit here? I saved you some space next to me.”

“Give that back, idiot.” Akechi spat, yanking his chair out of Adachi’s hands. “She can find her own seat by herself,” He glanced at Rumi, suddenly self-conscious. “I’m sure.”

“I was just being polite.” Adachi said. “Didn’t anyone teach you to give up your seat for girls?”

“Ah, Rumi,” Jun cut in to prevent Adachi and Akechi from getting into another meaningless argument. “Why don’t you come sit here between Dr. Maruki and me?”

“Sure!” She nodded. “It’s alright, Adachi-san, don’t worry, but thanks for the thought.”

While Rumi made herself comfortable in the seat that Jun had offered her, Adachi shot Akechi an accusing glare. “See what you did?”

“No, I’m fully capable of taking responsibility for my own actions.” Akechi said calmly. “This was entirely your fault.”

Luckily, the exchange didn’t escalate, so the group soon diverted their attention towards the holiday snacks. As soon as Takuto gave them the okay to begin eating, they dived into the treats with the energy of a kid who hadn’t seen a candy cane in years, which wasn’t surprising given that Jun, Adachi, and Akechi hadn’t exactly had the best home life while growing up. They didn’t remember any of the trauma, though, so it was almost as if it had never happened -- Takuto was the only one who could catch these subtle clues that indicated that these were still the same people he had actualized four years ago.

Four years...

It was hard to believe that, four years ago, on this very day, the Phantom Thieves had been fighting Yaldabaoth, while Takuto fully awakened to Azathoth for the first time. Four years wasn’t that much in the grand scheme of things, and this was only the beginning of Takuto’s perfect timeline, but he had already gotten so used to his powers that he had forgotten what it felt like to be human. But what could he say? This kind of control fit him like a glove, so much so that he could take some liberties, like spending his day at Shujin, his afternoons at the literature club, and his nights at the lab, working to keep this reality stable. He had no physical limitations or time restrictions. Gods didn’t need food or sleep, after all.

“This was all very thoughtful of you, Dr. Maruki.” Jun told him, gesturing towards the remaining snacks and the decorations. “I’m glad you’re our club president. No one else is more qualified for the position.”

“Thanks, but you give me too much credit. None of this could’ve been possible without our stellar vice president.”

Jun smiled. “Oh, you flatter me.”

He then turned to Rumi and resumed his conversation with her, seemingly talking about their shared experiences at work, their fabricated childhood memories, or something of that ilk.

Takuto let out a quiet sigh. The other members really were convinced that he had everything together, because he was some sort of idol, the charming school counselor who could win anyone over with a few words, the kind and insanely smart literature club president who could do no wrong. But the truth was that he was barely holding on, that he was on the verge of a breakdown, that he was a single incident away from snapping like a twig, because his mental health was in shambles and he was doing his best to sweep the pieces under the rug, where no one could see it.

But, no matter how distressed he was, he couldn’t give up now. He needed to suck it up and keep going, because this was the mission that humanity had given him, and he was the only one who could do it.

God… The literature club truly was a blessing. It was, after all, the only thing keeping him sane.

Once the group had finished the snacks, they scattered around the room, with some of them choosing to read a Christmas story, while others continued reading their usual books. For her part, Rumi decided to approach Takuto.

“Um, Dr. Maruki?” She said. “I wrote a poem in honor of the holidays. Would you like to read it?”

Takuto hated the formality in Rumi’s voice. Her retconned memories had created a rift between the two of them, drawing them apart, separating Takuto from the love of his life, who, thankfully, didn’t love him back.

It had taken a lot of trial and error on Takuto’s side, but he had managed to perfect his actualization to the point where it was safe for him to talk to Rumi without risk of retraumatization. He was completely gone from her brain, as if he had never existed. So, even if she had wanted to, there was no way to recover her memories of him. Their relationship was gone.

It was for the best.

But he would be lying if he said it didn’t hurt.

“Of course!” Takuto said, taking the piece of paper that Rumi was offering him. “You know I love your poems. You are such an amazing writer that, sometimes, I can’t believe you agreed to join my club.”

He carefully unfolded it and began scanning the paper for the key words he had become so familiar with: innocence, stars, dreams, shrine, déjà vu…

So, Rumi wrote a poem about déjà vu.

Takuto rubbed his chin, trying not to make any faces in front of Rumi. Her poem’s subject matter was concerning… He would have to go back to the lab after the meeting and readjust her character variables, just to make sure that she wasn’t starting to recover her memories from the original reality.

Takuto had always been determined to keep a close watch on all the members of the literature club, as that had been the main reason why said club was founded in the first place. However, although he was sure that he had full control over Adachi and Akechi’s behavior, he might have been too lenient on Rumi and Jun until now. But he couldn’t let them slip under his radar, because if any of them somehow managed to recover their memories, despite Takuto’s foolproof grasp on their cognitions, that could be catastrophic...

Yes, he would definitely have to check that as soon as he got back to the lab.

“This reminds me of a poem Kashihara-san would write.” Takuto mused, looking up at Rumi to see her flustered expression. “Considering that you two are childhood friends, I’m not surprised that your writing style is similar to his.”

“Uh? That’s… what you think...?” Rumi averted her eyes, a nervous smile on her face. “Well, I have to admit that I’ve taken a good amount of inspiration from his poems. The symbolism in them really speaks to my soul.”

“I can see why.” Takuto said. “His works are always full of emotion and metaphors that help their meaning come to life.” He handed back her poem. “Why don’t you go show him yours? I’m sure he’ll love it!”

“Hrm, if you say so. Alright, then.” She said, fiddling with a strand of her hair. “I’ll go do just that. Thanks, Dr. Maruki.”

As Takuto watched Rumi trotting towards Jun, he had to clench his jaw to contain the jealousy crawling inside of him, threatening to spill over in the form of a childish meltdown. Even though it hurt -- even though it killed him from the inside -- there was no room for a destructive emotion like jealousy in his ideal reality, so he did his best to push it down and out of sight, like he always did.

He had to accept the fact that Rumi was interested in Jun and not him. In fact, Takuto should be happy for her, because he knew that Jun would always treat her well, even if he couldn’t reciprocate her feelings. If hanging out with Jun made Rumi happy, then so be it. Who was he to intervene? Instead of feeling bitter about being alone, he should’ve been glad that Rumi had gravitated towards Jun instead of someone like Adachi -- otherwise, Takuto would have to be in a constant state of alert, checking and re-checking if Rumi was alright, almost stalking her out of an overwhelming feeling of paranoia.

Not like it mattered, anyway.

Not like any of it truly mattered, when it came down to it.

After all, none of this was real.

Takuto would know, as it had already been a whopping four months since his epiphany. Shortly after establishing the literature club, he had been confronted with the harsh truth that his ideal reality, which he had worked so hard to achieve, was nowhere close to being real in the first place. And, since then, the revelation that the world he lived in was merely a fantasy in some random person’s imagination, a simple story based on a video game that wasn’t even remotely real, had been eating at him, making him crumble bit by bit, forcing him to wonder… was any of this worth it?

However, even if killed him -- even if that forbidden knowledge slowly and painstakingly tore him apart, day after day after day after day -- it didn’t change his original goal. He wanted to make everyone happy -- and, since the world was made up of cognition, then what made this reality any lesser than the other ones, if its inhabitants considered it to be the  _ only _ reality?

Even if they were characters in a fic, didn’t they deserve to be happy, despite the fact that they were products of someone else’s cognition?

Takuto didn’t see why not. After all, this was  _ their _ reality, their own reality shrouded in blissful ignorance, and it was as real to them as it used to be to Takuto before he had his epiphany.

So, Takuto concluded, as long as the literature club was happy, nothing else mattered.

He had to push through, grit his teeth, and fight against his exhaustion, in order to bring everyone else the happiness they deserved.

It was all for the best.

**Author's Note:**

> I promise this was meant to be a Christmas fic.
> 
> And yes, I know this whole thing probably only makes sense to me. But if you made it this far, maybe it made a bit of sense to you? Hopefully? Well, I hope you enjoyed it even if it made zero sense. And do let me know if you did and if you would like to see more of this AU in the future :)
> 
> [Here's my Tumblr.](https://denizen-of-dreamland.tumblr.com) I also have [a tag for this AU](https://denizen-of-dreamland.tumblr.com/tagged/Cheat-Code-to-Happiness-AU) if you're interested.


End file.
